A child who reads will be an adult who thinks
by HiddenYori
Summary: My take on the infamous wrong-twin-who-lives and alive parents idea. Wilder and Juniper Porter are taking on their first year of Hogwarts with new friends Blaise Zambini and Fred Weasley. Yet they notice a stuttering Professor paying too much attention to an arrogant-boy-who-lives. No bashing, other than slightly arrogant children and inept adults who don't lesson. Grey magic.
1. Chapter 1

The messy haired boy stood next to his twin sister, who was preparing to bolt at the first sign of trouble (and ready to forcibly drag him along if needed), as Professor Snape tapped on the bricks of the far wall in the alley with his slim fingers.

Wilder didn't know why they'd answered the door when the 'Professor' had knocked, and he had even less of an idea why they'd gone with him instead of locking the door/ starting dinner for when their parents came home from work. Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe it was because they knew they were different and wanted to know why strange things were always going on around them. (In reality, neither of them wanted to begin the mind numbing taste of cooking and were just looking for an excuse to get out of it.) So they'd followed the black clothed man, at a very generous distance of almost an entire block, as he leads them into a pub named 'Leaky Cauldron' and started hitting an assortment of bricks.

Then to the twins utmost surprise the bricks, that had once been part of a solid wall, moved apart and open a doorway into a busy strip bustling with at least a hundred people dressed in colorful fabric. It was...well it was absolutely magical.

As the twins walked in long strides to keep up with Professor Snape, Wilder silently thanked every god he'd ever heard of because he had his twin sister walking next to him. Snape had explained it wasn't often a 'muggle' family had a magical child, and it went without saying that it was unheard of for a 'muggle' family to adopt two magical children from completely different bloodlines.

While Juniper Porter and Wilder Porter were 'twins', they didn't actually share any more blood with each other than they might with a complete stranger in Diagon Alley. They just happen to be found together by their parents, who desperately wanted children but couldn't conceive properly, in an orphanage by the ocean side when they were around seven years old.

The family had fallen in love with each other at nearly first sight, their parents accepted them as twins (because even back then they were inseparable) and raised them accordingly. The day the group meet, twenty- fourth of December was deemed the twin's birthday due to neither having a proper one. It was the entire family's favorite day.

It wasn't until they got older that their parents (and themselves) begin to notice the strange things that happened around them almost daily. Jumping off of the dining room chairs and staying suspended in the air just a second too long, disappearing for hours at a time while playing hide and seek, and the toys of a bullies suddenly lighting up on fire.

Everyone in primary school had called them 'freaky' and 'weird', but before the taunting got too far the twin's mother had come in like the tornado of a lady she was, and withdrawn them from classes and begun their homeschooling careers.

"This is our world," Juniper muttered softly, a small smile gracing her excited face. "There are people like us here."

Wilder nodded, "This is part of our world, but the rest of our world will always be at home with our parents."

"That was a given."

It was a nice beginning.

The twins walked slower, at least compared to Snape who's legs seemed to be a mile long, connected by hooked elbows as they moved through people and pointed to things that caught their attention. Which, to Snape's annoyance, it seemed like everything caught their attention to varying degrees.

Soon, but not soon enough, Snape was able to lead the twins towards someone no doubt more eager to deal with them. With a quick introduction to a woman with red hair, the introduction consisting of, "Porter twins, muggle born, and *sigh* without their parents."

Snape was gone.

"Hi," The women greeted, a shining light in her green eyes as she tipped her head towards the sun. "I'm Lily Evans, and I'm a professor at Hogwarts. I will be teaching you charms until third year."

Juniper bobbed her head in understand, she didn't speak often (to people other than her family) and absolutely never talked to strangers.

"I'm Wilder Porter and this is my twin sister, Juniper Porter. You can call us Wild and Juni, if you'd like."

Juniper and Wilder, were shuffled from person to person. Never spending more than twenty minutes with each person they were presented to, with the exception of Professor Snape, before their (sometime reluctant) guide were needed elsewhere.

They'd meet 'just-call-me-Lily' Evans, Professor Mcgonagall, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, 'I'm-just-James' Potter, Remus Lupin, 'I'm-a-cool-adult-Sirius' Black, Molly and Arthur Weasly, and 'Keeper-of-Keys' Hagrid within two hours.

Their excitement of being in this new world and understanding that everyone was busy was well gone and they refused to be shifted off to another person. So they did the most rational thing they could think of, they walked away while Hagrid's back was turned and he was talking about unicorns.

Even though they'd been with many people, they had yet to actually enter any buildings and get information they could use. While they were politely 'interested' in unicorns they didn't really think it would be important to them down the line.

"Let's go to that building first," Juni said, pointing to a large building near the end of the ally made of elegant grey bricks and a staircase of long stairs. "It looks promising."

"Okay, but after I want to check out the book stores."

"Sounds fair."

The twins walked up the massive staircase, taking passing moments to admire the view of the alley from higher up and catch their breath. It took them almost fifteen minutes, by Juniper's watch, or twenty minutes, by Wilder's watch, to reach the top of the stairs and slowly make their way into the building.

Inside was a rather large lobby with high marble ceilings and cold stone floors. Lined up neatly were twelve dark wooden desks and comfortable red velvet chairs. The most interesting thing about the building, at least to the twins, was that it seemed to be completely empty.

With nothing else to do and not wanting to walk right back down the stairs they'd climbed, Wilder and Juniper made their way to one of the counters.

To their surprise a goblin appeared behind the counter, snarling slightly at the two and brandishing sharp teeth.

"Children," The goblin snarled easily. "How might Gringott's help you today."

"We've never actually been here."

"Here? As is Gringott or-"

"My brother and I, only learned about magic today. This is our first time near a magical community." Juniper explained as she stood behind the velvet chair, Wilder making a comfortable place for himself on the chair. "We're Juniper Porter and Wilder Porter."

"I'm Kriftoran, Gringott is a goblin run bank and it never hurts to have a bank account. How about we set you up with one, a shared account all you need to do in answer some questions."

"I don't see any harm." Wilder shrugged, as Juniper watched the goblin carefully.

"Are you two siblings?"

"We were both adopted, we've been raised as twins even though we come from different bloodlines."

Kriftoran looked up the paperwork, letting his eyes wander over each of the twins a hard second. "Have either of you heard of a blood adoption?"

"No." Juniper answered simply.

"It's a practice that has fallen out with most of Wizard kind, but it could allow you two to share blood. For the right fee the two of you could share blood." Kriftoran explained, as he leaned back into his chair with a sigh. "Seven Galleons is the fee."

The twins looked at the conversion chart (muggle currency into wizarding currency) that was on the desk and both signed in unhappy unison, both knowing their family wouldn't be able to afford it. Neither of the Porter's made much money and would probably find it hard enough to send the twins off to school, much less worry about the cost of a blood adoption.

"We can't afford it," Wilder muttered before looking up at Kriftoran hopefully. "Unless we can work it off."

The ugly grin the goblin suddenly grew was enough to make Juniper run for the hills, and she would have if she didn't trip over the leg of a chair when she turned.

Juniper was just a little paranoid.

Yes, they could work off the cost.

All they needed to do was sign a worker contract, which just promised an agreed amount of money/ labor for the blood adoption.

Kriftoran expected the twins to work three hours at the bank every day for a week. Which wasn't that bad, all they needed to do was light cleaning, deliver mail around Diagon Alley for the bank, and provide tea for waiting customers. They also had to read two books, which Gringotts loaned them, one on the bank itself and the other on Goblin etiquette before their first day.

It was dark by the time the twins left the bank and most of the people in Diagon Alley were gone. No one noticed or seemed to care that the twins had disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's points: 'X' is a stand in for each, so 3x can be read as 3 each. '*' Are the twins markings is they have already gotten something. Also, three initials (so either W.W.P or J.S.P) indicate only one twin got this item. Finally is you see a point under a number starting with an '-', that means the twin deviated from the setlist (and a description of what they got instead) or are explaining what they got for their own memory's benefit.

-I am a line break

'1. Uniforms: Three sets of plain work robes (3x)*

Extra(bought with the money Aunt Audrey sent us for schooling; we'll need to send her a personal 'Thank You Note' before we leave):

-Casual Robes navy blue (2, W.W.P)*

-Casual Robes tan/brown (2, J.S.P)*

2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear (x)*

-An awesome black cotton bucket hat with the Hogwart's insignia placed on the front (W.W.P)- "Because the pointed hat looks stupid!"

-An awesome black cotton bucket hat with the Hogwart's insignia placed on the front (J.S.P)- "I wasn't disagreeing, I just asked where you found it so I could buy one!"

pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) (x)*

4\. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)*

-Tan winter cloak with gold fastenings (J.S.P) -"Because I don't like black and silver makes my skin break out...I don't care what the school says...I'm getting the coat I want, Wilder."-

-Black cloak with silver fastening (W.W.P)- "Because the school asked for black and I don't care if my skin breaks out...I don't care if it's not practical...I'm getting the coat the list says, Juniper."-

*All clothes have either been embroidered on the pocket with the initials W.W.P (for Wilder Wen Porter) or J.S.P (for Juniper Sparrow Porter)

Course Books:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk (x)*

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot (x)*

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling (x)*

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch (x)*

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore (x)*

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger (x)*

Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (x)*

The Dark Forces: a Guide to Self- Protection by Quentin Trimble (x)*

Other Equipment

1 wand (x)*

' _W.W.P Wand, Blackthorn Wood/ Dittany Stalk Core/ 12' Length_

'J.S.P Wand, Pine Wood/ Black Coral/ 14' Length

1 cauldrons (pewter, standard size 2) (x)*

1 sets glass or crystal phials (x)*

1 telescope*

W.W.P a golden telescope

J.S.P a bronze telescope

1 set brass scales (x)*'

"So, do we have everything we needed for school?" Juniper asked, looking over her brother's shoulder at the list he had carefully scrawled in his journal. The young girl was happy to see the multiple *, which indicated things they'd bought and the way her brother had actually written bits of their conversations out. It was nice to know that when the twins were older and were looking back on their life there would be a small glimpse of current selves within the pages of Wilder's journal.

Wilder hummed contently, gently pulled his sister closer into him by way of their connected elbows. "I think we'll have enough left over to both get a familiar. Any thought on what you might like to have?"

"-" Juni opened her mouth to respond, but just as quickly shut it when she noticed a familiar 'just-call-me-Lily' walking towards them...with a pack of orange haired people who looked very similar to the Molly and Arthur Weasley they'd also had the 'pleasure of meeting' almost two weeks ago.

"Wilder? Juniper?"

"Hello, Professor Evans." Wilder offered politely, making sure to bow the appropriate depth and amount of time, hearing the goblin's sharply hissed words 'show you respect them by bowings but don't bow too long or they will think they are superior to you' in the back of his mind. "Shopping with family?"

The twins noticed the way 'just-call-me-Lily''s smile suddenly became tight and forced, as she looked the two over carefully. "What _nice_ manners you two have, where did you learn them?"

"That's something I'd like to know also," A new voice spoke, completely hidden from view by the assembled red (orange?) headed people. Suddenly, as if Moses parted the red sea, a fair woman stepped out in very ornate and well fit robs. Grabbing all the twin's attention, as she was the odd one out with black hair in the mass sea of orange. Softly offering a hand in front of the twins. " Lady Narcissa Malfoy."

Juni, who first regained her bearings at the sudden presence, recognized the movement from a point in the Goblin's training. It was a show of respect between high borns in classic wizard society, a way of marking someone as an equal despite age, preference, colour, or blood. This was a statement to society (or at least the fraction that still used these ways) and an offer of allegiance.

With care, Juni pressed a light kiss on the back of Narcissa's outstretched hand. "Pleasure my Lady...we learned our manners from the Goblins at Gringott. We've been working for them...for about two weeks."

Ignoring the harshness -probably from not using it often- of her own voice, Juni tried her best to offer a light -taking care it did not come across as timid- smile to Lady Malfoy. Wilder soon offered his own smile and a short kiss.

"Please call me Narcissa, what would your lovely names be?"

"We are the Porter twins." Wilder noted two seemingly identical -but even though they looked the same, seemed to be so different- orange haired boys share a curious look. "I am Wilder, and this is my dear sister Juniper."

"Pleasure."

"Likewise, Narcissa."

The air turned cold suddenly, and it didn't slip past the Porter's notice that the change in temperature happened when 'I'm-just-James' Potter entered the group. Fallowing behind 'I'm-just-James' Potter was 'I'm-a-cool-adult-Sirius' Black, Remus, 'Keeper-of-keys' Hagrid, and Professor Snape (who didn't seem to really be with the coming group, but rather to have simply been passing by and noticed the assembled group).

"Porter twins." The Potion Master greeted the two eleven year olds, who would have happily been swallowed up by the ground then continue to be in so many stranger's foci. "Narissa, lovely evening don't you think."

The temperature, that had been fridged since 'I'm-just-James' Potter entered, dropped, even more, when Narcissa and 'just-call-me-Lily' made eye contact. Two things were plain, One was that the twins had no idea the history shared between all these people, and Two they needed to get out quickly.

"Well, nice day to you all. It was exceptional to meet you, Narcissa. Too bad Juni and I must leave, we've got light shopping to finish before we start our walk home." Wilder explained evenly, making a show of connecting arms with his sister to leave.

~~~I am another line break, fear me~~

Despite being raised by a devoted Catholic pastor since they were nine, Juni and Wilder were far from being saints.

So the second they left the large group's sight they'd sprinted into Gringotts like they were being chased by something ready to kill. Took a moment to quickly ask (because God/Jesus/Magic?/Whatever help you if you demand something from a Goblin -in their bank no less- ) a teller for access to the large network of tunnels under the bank and that spread through the undergrounds of Diagon Alley.

Not many people knew about the tunnels because few humans work for Gringotts and those few were something called curse breakers -who would have no reason to ever be in the tunnels-. The twins knew about the tunnels because they'd been working for the Goblins doing odd jobs, first to cover their blood adoptions and then money to buy their supplies for the coming year.

While the work was usually physically tiring, it came with many perks. They made twenty-five gallons each for every day they worked, their work days were only five hours in length, they became familiar -and built relationships- with most of the goblins, they got multiple crash courses in different wizarding customs/etiquette, and books were often given to them for one reason of another for free. The biggest perk of all though was learning the less know secrets of the bank.

Secrets, like the before mentions tunnels which were built because of bombings in World War 2. Now the tunnels were rarely used, and the Goblin nation had no problem letting the Porter twins have free run of the tunnels for the time being.

After being waved forward the twins ran again, this time using the tunnels to lessen (spy) on the group of mostly orange haired people they'd previously left.

If they were worried about hearing the group, they didn't need to be. Yelling was heard almost the second they entered the tunnels and despite not having proof, the twins knew the loudest voice belonged to 'I'm-just-James' Potter. Making it almost too easy to find a water drain that was close enough to the group so the twins could have a -restricted- view of the people above.

"-And now you are recruiting innocent Muggle-Borns! How lower can you get Malfoy? Already had them brought to the Goblins for a blood adoption."

"I can assure you," Narcissa snapped in an aristocratic short voice. "I knew nothing about Wilder and Juniper until I saw them exhibited better manners at seemingly eleven years of age, then you yourself show as a grown man Lord Potter. I know nothing of them having had a blood adoption or what reasons they might have had for getting one."

Snape sighed loudly "Though it's none of your business or mines, the Porter twins to my understanding are twins in every way but blood. They might have simply requested a blood adoption so they could share a common family blood line."

"Defending the little Death Eater whore?"

Wilder growled at the use of such a derogatory and degrading term. No one should speak so lowly to another person, let alone a Lady like Narcissa Malfoy, in such a bad light. It was stupid and idiotic, who someone slept with was their own business and wasn't something for others to judge.

Juniper, who would usually be just as upset about the 'W' word being used, was instead caught on another word. Death Eater, despite not being able to place it the word sounded familiar…

"Do you think we should help Narcissa?" Wilder asked his twin after he'd cooled down, lessening only half eared as the people above insulted the monarch of the Malfoy family. "She did mark us as equals…"

"Step back," Juniper instructed, pulling a small box of matches from one of her pockets. Carefully, the girl lights a match and used the flame to light a page of the paper on fire.

Thick smoke poured over the page and into the streets above, causing the group to separate with departing sneers. For a brief second, Narcissa looked down and saw the twins who could only give the women their best half hearted looks of innocent.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" Wilder eventually asked as the twins started the walk back to the bank. "Even if Narcissa becomes our ally, it wasn't our place to get involved. We don't know the history."

"I think what's right or wrong depends on the person you ask, everyone will always have their own justifications."

"..."

"I saw the quote on the bottom of a soda cap," Juni admitted. "But it works here, also we don't know the history because we weren't involved in it. So we can only judge the present."

"You are starting to sound like a fortune cookie."

"Let's just go get our familiars."


End file.
